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Dr. Craig Bowman thought that he had escaped the Sisyphean drudgery of modern medical practice when he accepted a job as an physician for well-heeled patients with special needs. His joy turns to anxious bewilderment when he is served with papers for medical malpractice. As Bowman's legal problems deepen, his medical examiner brother-in-law, Dr. Jack Stapleton, arrives to offer his forensic services to the beleaguered legal team. But his presence does not bring calm. On the contrary, when he makes what appears to be a routine suggestion, all hell breaks loose.

From the Publisher

When Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical malpractice, he's shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who works continuously in the service of others, he endured grueling years of training and is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he now provides the kind of medical care he is trained to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last, he is earning a significant income, no longer burdened by falling reimbursements from insurance companies.But this idyllic practice comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon-and gets much, much worse.

Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman's brother-in-law: Jack's sister Alexis-now Craig's estranged wife-tearfully begs for his help as her husband's trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert witness experience to Craig's beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack's irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse to disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble. As Craig Bowman's life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery of tremendous legal and medical significance-and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth.

Publishers Weekly

Guidall's experienced reading brings a pleasant touch of class to Cook's latest thriller. A distinguished and self-confident physician, Craig Bowman is delivered an ego-shattering blow when he is sued for malpractice by the husband of one of his patients, hypochondriac Patience Stanhope, who died while under his care. The trial takes up the bulk of this wordy novel. Bowman's wife asks her brother, medical examiner Dr. Jack Stapleton, to use his expertise to help with her husband's defense. Stapleton agrees, but what should be a routine forensic exercise quickly turns into a dangerous trail of lies, deception and murder. While it takes some time to get to the story's climax, Cook eventually ties up all the loose ends, although the denouement feels more gimmicky than surprising. Guidall exhibits admirable vocal talents as he manages to keep this overwritten novel moving at a satisfying pace, and the ease with which he works his way through the mounds of legal and medical jargon throughout the book is a testament to his skill as a narrator. Fans of Cook's writing should enjoy this dignified presentation. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, May 29). (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

What's even scarier than a medical thriller by Cook? A medical malpractice suit-at least if you're a doctor. Dr. Craig Bowman is pretty shocked when he gets slapped with one, since he's in the position to handpick his patients. Then brother-in-law Jack, a medical examiner, flippantly recommends exhuming the corpse that occasioned the suit, and big trouble comes out of that grave. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Product Details

• ISBN: 0425216578
  
• ISBN-13: 9780425216576
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 580pp
• Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
• Pub. Date: August 2007
• Sales Rank: 18,638